Citrix looks to flexible future for IT

Harry Labana has been CTO of the Desktop group at Citrix since summer 2009

Citrix has long been involved in desktop virtualisation in its broadest sense, and the firm now has a portfolio that covers almost all aspects of the desktop, from traditional server-hosted Citrix sessions to virtual clients to locally streamed desktops.

Today, Citrix is broadening its vision to include the consumerisation of enterprise technology, and looks ahead to a future where workers can access the applications they require from anywhere and on almost any device they choose.

For example, Citrix is readying its XenClient technology that will use virtualisation to deliver greater security and management control over corporate laptops, while at the same time allowing users the freedom to install and run the applications they want.

Desktop virtualisation simply means that the user's desktop environment is decoupled from the hardware in some way, such as being accessed remotely. However, the issue with desktop virtualisation is that there has been too much focus on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), according to Harry Labana, chief technology officer for Citrix's desktop group.

With VDI, Windows PCs are replaced with virtual machines centralised into a datacentre, but this is just one way of virtualising the traditional desktop and will not be appropriate in all cases.

"Thinking of this as VDI alone is very limiting. There are lots of valid VDI cases, but these are primarily driven by those focused on centralising everything," Labana said.

In particular, he warned that the costs associated with moving to a VDI deployment are not completely clear, and that other forms of virtualising the desktop may be more appropriate, such as traditional Citrix sessions.

"Task-based workers don't need VDI, and in fact a shared desktop is good enough for this kind of role," said Labana.

Alternatively, customers can choose to have the desktop streamed to the client from a central repository, delivering the benefits of local processing associated with standalone PCs, but from a central operating system image for easier management.

All of these approaches are currently supported in XenDesktop 4 via its FlexCast delivery technology, but Citrix is soon to introduce a new technology to help manage one sector of the workforce not currently addressed: laptop users.

XenClient will see laptops fitted out with a hypervisor, allowing them to be partitioned into separate environments, containing a standard corporate image controlled by the IT department and a personal environment owned by the user.

However, XenClient will also include synchronisation technology that will allow patches and policy updates to be delivered to the laptop client, while any data in the corporate partition can be backed up to the datacentre.

Currently, XenClient is in a private beta programme with 200 Citrix customers and technology professionals, according to the firm. No availability date has yet been announced, but Citrix said that further developments will be disclosed at the Citrix Synergy event in San Francisco from 12 to 14 May.